Orcs and elves are a fantasy staple, but the current deluge of "Orc City" jokes isn't just Tolkien runoff, it's Twitter's collective roast of indie fantasy author John A. Douglas's book The Black Crown.

In early July 2025, the author and X user tried to clown on legendary Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima for naming a Metal Gear villain "Fat Man," only to have his own writing unearthed and ridiculed with far more enthusiasm.

Here's a recap of all the "Orc City / Orc War" memes in case you're out of the loop.

Who Is John A. Douglas, And What Set Off All the Orc City Jokes On Twitter?

On July 3rd, 2025, indie fantasy author John A. Douglas logged on to Twitter to drag Hideo Kojima, best known for critically acclaimed video game titles like Death Stranding and Metal Gear.

Douglas mocked Kojima for his character Fat Man, a rollerblading villain in a bomb suit who sips wine through a straw. Douglas sneered at the name, the concept and the entire idea of Kojima being considered a genius.

Of the seven million views and a few hundred hate comments his post received in just a couple of days, one X user called for people to look at his work instead.

X user @capybaroness quote-tweeting Douglas with the opening lines from The Black Crown, his self-published fantasy novel. The excerpt described an "orc city" soaked in blood, an "elvish king" condemning the entire orc species and the line, "Its ruin was overseen by the architect of its very destruction." The post took off, gathering 50,000 likes in two days, setting off a slew of unhinged jokes about life in "Orc City."

How Did People React To John A. Douglas’s 'Orc City'?

As John A. Douglas’s writing began to be spread online, numerous X / Twitter users began ridiculing it and posting memes about his book in early July 2025.

For instance, on July 4th, X user @Blood_0cean slammed the book as yet another lazy rehash of orcs-versus-elves tropes, tweeting that entire generations of fantasy writers were stuck in a "mental prison" where these tropes remain the only available tools.

Then, X user @paynushurts joined in, posting a screenshot of the book's glossary, where Douglas defines terms like "Orcpunched" and "Spear ear." The tweet, captioned "There's also the racial terminology section of the glossary," gathered over 5,000 likes in a day.

What Are The Memes People Made About Orc City?

On July 3rd, 2025, X user @GayOliveGarden spoofed the Starship Troopers I'm From Buenos Aires meme, writing, "I’m from Orc City and I say kill em all," racking up 16,000 likes in two days.

X user @Awesomespen joined on July 4th with an image of actor Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077, edited to reference Orc City, and X user @NewEngOfficial posted an Anthony Bourdain Advice Parody meme that read, "Once you've been to Orc City, you will never want to stop to beat the Elvish King to death with your bare hands."

What Are Some More 'Orc City' Memes?

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For the full history of Orc City, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.